City Council holds its annual Strategic Planning Session, Monday, March 2, 8:30 a.m. - 3 p.m. with audience participation taking place at 2:45 p.m.; and Tuesday, March 3, 8:30 a.m. - noon, with audience participation taking place at 11:45 a.m. The sessions take place at the Ramada Inn, 425 U.S.41 Bypass North.

BE HAPPY - VOTE FOR VENICE: Venice, Florida was named one of the Top 10“America’s Happiest Seaside Towns in America” for 2015 by Coastal Living magazine.

A contest to name the “Happiest Seaside Town” is being held. Voters can vote once per hour. Voting begins today and continues through March 31, 2015 at www.coastalliving.com/happytowns2015.

Beach Renourishment Update:Tuesday, Feb. 19, the Liberty dredge is currently incapacitated due to a damaged propeller, which has postponed work until the repairs can be made. The crew expects to be back on the job by March 3, and possibly as early as Feb. 27.

To date, Great Lakes Dredge & Dock (GLDD) has placed more than 294,000 cubic yards of sand on the beach. The completed project will place about 791,000 cubic yards of sand on 3.2 miles of shoreline. At this time, the project is expected to be completed in early April.

Garage Sale Update: The new garage-sale registration regulations will go into effect on April 27. For more detailed information, please see the February and March Venice City E-News newsletters.

Important Notice:St. Augustine Avenue, on the island of Venice, is a one-way street westbound as of Dec. 5. The decision to make it one way was in an effort to eliminate some of the confusing traffic pattern and congestion on Tampa Avenue, where four areas used to pour into Tampa in a just a few feet. Please watch for signs and enter St. Augustine only from Tampa Avenue. To travel eastbound to Tampa Avenue in that area, use Nokomis Avenue. Law enforcement will issue tickets to wrong-way drivers.

Listen to a meeting on your computer
On the left of this page, click on meetings, then click on 2013 meetings-Granicus, find the meeting you want to view, look to the right of it and click on Agenda, click open, and view. To listen to live audio of meetings, or to watch city council meeting live videos, instead of clicking on Agenda, click on Meeting Details, go to the right and click on video.

My Waste App
Ever forget what day your garbage collection is, what is recyclable and what is not, or want to report a pothole? These and many more things can be done easily with the My Waste App.You can scan the app to the left on your I-Phone or Android.

Other ways to ask questions and voice concerns:
Call the Information Helpline: (941) 999-1415;
or Switchboard: (941) 486-2626, ext. 24005.
weekdays, 8 a.m. - 4 p.m.
E-mail: pjohnson@venicegov.com; or
Use the suggestion box at the top of this page.

Venice, Florida is located on the Gulf of Mexico in Sarasota County, about half way between Tampa and Fort Myers.